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Good morning. The NBA and more specifically received some bad news on New Year's Day: LeBron James will miss two weeks to relieve his sore knees and back. Cleveland is winless this season without LeBron in three games, and at 18-14 on the season the Cavs already trail the No. 1 Raptors by six games and the No. 4 Bulls by 4.5. This rest for LeBron could make it much more likely Cleveland faces the Bulls without home court advantage in the first round.
Or, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love could take over and lead the team to a few victories on a long West road trip coming up. (What a bad deal this rest is for fans in those cities who will miss their only chance to see LeBron live this season. Enjoy Dion Waiters, y'all!) The good news for the Cavaliers is that only one squad, the Bucks, is really a threat to jump them in the standings, and over the long season Cleveland should be able to hold them off. But getting home court advantage at all might prove to be too difficult a task, especially if the Cavs go something like 2-7 in their next nine games.
And of course this is all happening after a video purporting to show LeBron discussing plans to reunite with Dwyane Wade surfaced. Those plans now appear to be unrelated to free agency, and concerned with off-court projects. But that sure doesn't contribute to a very good week for Cleveland! Luckily, the Buckeyes saved Ohio from sadness.
Alright, let's basketball.
RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR: We didn't convene Thursday morning, so we didn't get a chance to talk about Tim Duncan's unreal tip-in to send Spurs-Pelicans to overtime. I now realize I don't have much to say about it except, man, that's unreal!
OH GOOD: The Kings' locker room is basically destroyed.
ON THE SPORTS-TECH INTERSECTION: Jack Ross of VICE Sports basically says it is not going to be much but hype.
WHILE YOU WERE PARTYING ... Russell Westbrook was fighting Alex Len and Matt Bonner was schooling Anthony Davis.
THE BLAZERS NEVER DIE: A look at why no lead is safe against Portland.
ALL-STAR BALLOTING: Kobe is claiming a spot in the West still. James Harden, Chris Paul and Damian Lillard are chasing. Harden might catch him. If not, Lillard and Russell Westbrook might not make the game, which would be a crime.
ON FACIAL CODING: Tape measures and game film mean a lot more than facial expressions, writes Jonathan Tjarks.
HAPPY FRIDAY: 2014 in emoji.
See you next time.
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/13MxPdv
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